Tag hair texture

How Menopause Messes With Our Hair

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Women who have gone through menopause typically experience striking changes in hair texture, which can quite frankly, be distressing. For those of you who didn’t know about menopausal hair changes, be afraid. Be very afraid. Because your hair texture will morph into something you won’t understand or find very manageable.

My hair before the waves kicked in…

When a woman reaches menopause, hormonal changes can lead to noticeable differences in hair texture, volume, and growth patterns. While hair thinning and loss are commonly discussed, another fascinating change is how hair texture can become curlier or more unruly. On a personal note, my hair went from being almost arrow straight to having a pronounced wave, which makes it look like I had braided my hair and then let the crimps remain after unraveling the braid. I fight this new waviness by flat ironing my hair, because I just can’t stand the look. The waves became intense for a while (see pic below), then settled down a bit once I reached 57.

There are several scientific explanations which help account for the changes in hair texture during menopause:

1. Hormonal Changes and Hair Texture

Estrogen and progesterone, two key hormones that regulate many aspects of a woman’s body, play an important role in hair growth and structure. Before menopause, these hormones help maintain the hair growth cycle, ensuring strong and healthy strands. As estrogen and progesterone levels decline, their regulatory effect diminishes, which can lead to changes in the shape and structure of hair.

At the same time, androgen (male hormone) levels remain relatively stable or increase in comparison, which can influence hair follicles in several ways:

  • Some women experience hair thinning or miniaturization, particularly along the crown.
  • Androgen dominance may alter the activity of sebaceous (oil) glands, affecting hair texture.
  • Hair strands may become drier, more brittle, or coarser.

2. Changes in the Hair Follicle and Muscle Relaxation

One lesser-discussed but compelling explanation involves changes in the follicular muscle layer—specifically, the arrector pili muscle, a tiny muscle attached to each hair follicle. This muscle plays a role in the positioning of the follicle in the scalp.

  • During menopause, the arrector pili muscle may weaken or relax due to hormonal shifts, particularly as estrogen levels drop.
  • When this muscle relaxes, it can cause the hair follicle to shift at a different angle.
  • A change in the follicle’s orientation may lead to hair emerging in a more curved or spiral pattern, making previously straight or wavy hair appear curlier.

3. Structural Changes in the Hair Shaft

The cross-sectional shape of the hair shaft is a major determinant of hair texture. Straight hair typically has a round cross-section, whereas curly hair has a more oval or flattened shape.

  • Hormonal shifts can influence keratin production, the protein that makes up hair.
  • Changes in keratin bonding patterns could contribute to an altered hair structure, making it curlier or frizzier.
  • Hair may also become thinner in diameter, which can enhance the appearance of curls or waves.

4. Aging and Changes in Scalp Health

The scalp itself undergoes changes with age, including:

  • Reduced blood flow to hair follicles, which affects nutrient delivery.
  • Changes in oil production, leading to drier hair that may behave differently.
  • A shift in collagen and elastin levels in the skin, which might indirectly impact follicle positioning and hair texture.

The waves in my hair tend to look more like this, but I have a lot of frizz right after washing my hair. Thank goodness for flat irons!

Conclusion

Menopause brings a variety of changes to hair due to the interplay of hormonal fluctuations, follicular shifts, and changes in scalp and hair fiber structure. While some women may experience thinning, others may find their hair becoming curlier or more textured due to follicle repositioning, muscle relaxation, and shifts in keratin structure. Understanding these changes can help women adjust their hair care routines to maintain healthy, manageable hair during and after menopause.

Waves In My Hair

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From the time I was an infant, I always had very straight hair, and like many girls with straight locks, I always longed for waves. My desire for beachy waves was so pronounced that I spent my twenties and thirties habitually swirling my hair into an up-do with a clip while it dried in hopes that waves would form and remain there. However, because my hair is so thick and heavy, the sheer heft would uncoil my attempt at making soft curls, leaving me with the straight hair my DNA locked me into.

My hair became even thicker after I began competing in 2009. While many other women my age were lamenting the loss of their locks, I experienced such a surge in fullness that for about a year, I shaved the nape of my neck to lessen the mass of hair I had. A lot of it had to do with the increased protein intake (up to 180 grams a day at one point) which I had to incorporate into my regimen while I prepped for competitions. My hair also grew much more rapidly, and in 2010, my hair grew ten inches in eleven months. How do I know this? Because the area I had shaven grew a full eleven inches in that span of time, and the overall length of my hair kept me visiting my hairstylist for trims every six weeks.

Then I entered peri-menopause. What a joyous time, when a commercial can send you into a fit of tears, layering clothing becomes essential because of the hot flashes and night sweats, and your skin decides that it no longer wants to fight against the pull of gravity. About a year after I began sailing on the rocky seas of menopause, I had a haircut by an amazing stylist who remains my regular stylist to this day.

By some very odd coincidence, I noticed a pronounced wave throughout my hair when I washed my hair several days later. I thought perhaps I hadn’t washed out the styling products completely, but my hair began to look wavier and wavier with every subsequent wash. This persisted for over a year, and continued to perplex and annoy me. I went from never styling my hair, to developing a blow-drying and flat-ironing regimen which I still haven’t perfected, even to this day.

The rogue waves in my hair don’t seem to have rhyme or reason either. The waves on the right side of my head which frame my face are much wavier than on the left side, and for whatever bizarre reason, the right side is resistant to my efforts to obliterate the kinks with a flat-iron, even if I treat small sections and repeatedly iron the sections.

The sudden nature of the change in my hair texture was alarming. I remember hearing women tell tales, which I figured were tall tales, about how the texture of their hair changed overnight. And here I experienced the exact thing.

While hormones play a large role in hair texture (thyroid, progesterone, estrogen, testosterone), it can be rather strange to wake up with waves you never had, or to go from uber-curly hair to arrow straight hair overnight. It’s like the hormone fairy has a special hair wand which she uses to transform a woman’s strands like magic. The other funny thing is that hair follicles may return to their original state after a few years. My hair is starting to calm down somewhat, and there are times when my hair will be almost arrow straight after drying naturally.

I love the theory which Jonathan Torch, the founder of Toronto’s Curly Hair Institute, has devised. He maintains that changes in the tone of the muscles at the base of the hair follicles are the culprits in hair texture changes over time.

All I know is that my hair seems to have a mind of its own now!